Monday, July 11, 2016

The Failure of Black Lives Matter

“Black lives matter was gaining
ground. Then a Sniper Opened Fire.” This New York Times article encapsulates
everything that is wrong with the ubiquitous but ultimately useless
organization, Black Lives Matter. The phrase is now used to describe any
protest by black people in the last two years and has come to symbolize the
fight against police murder. So much so that it is difficult to offer any
serious commentary about BLM.

To be clear I differentiate between
the organization and the many efforts to fight back against 21st
century lynch law. That fight is a righteous fight, but BLM as an organization
is an abject failure. BLM makes no political demands of Obama or any other
officials. The founders of BLM know good marketing when they see it and the
phrase is used by the righteous and the scoundrels alike. If BLM was the truly
radical, revolutionary organization that we so desperately need, it wouldn’t
feel a need to explain actions, defend itself or offer anything other than
political demands. Its leaders wouldn’t care what the New York Times or anyone
other than the masses of black people had to say about them.

Black people have been living in a
state of barely concealed anger for years. Murderer vigilantes like George
Zimmerman go free and make a profit from killing. Eric Garner was killed on
camera but the only person imprisoned was the one who recorded the video.
Watching Alton Sterling and Philando Castille die on camera were the straws
that broke the camel’s back. Whether spoken or not, black people know there
will be no justice for these two men, just as there was none for Tamir Rice,
Freddie Gray or Michael Brown.

Black Lives Matter has nothing to
show for the money it raises and media attention it receives. They gave words,
a name to a mass movement, but they haven’t articulated any political message
to date. Their conference in 2015, a “convening” as they called it, was a mish
mash of touchy feely new age nonsense. Workshops on healing and safe spaces
were on the menu but there was little talk of political action which might end
police murder.

Despite its lack of accomplishment,
BLM has been a target for white anger. That doesn’t really mean much because
white people are generally angry and feel aggrieved when their racism is
pointed out to them. The bar for making white people mad is rather low and so
is evoking negative reaction from right wing pundits and red neck republicans
from Nowheresville.

If the New York Times says that BLM
was gaining ground, who were they gaining ground for? Are they talking about
good publicity, fund raising or accolades from all the right people? Since BLM
was founded there has been no drop in the number of police murders of black
people or of anyone else. There has been no improvement in prosecution or
punishment of killer cops.

Margaret Kimberley

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